Fruit of Labor Remembers...

It is with great sadness and profound loss that we announce the passing of our exemplary revolutionary warrior and leader, Comrade Brother Saladin Muhammad. Saladin passed after a long battle with illness. His wife, Naeema and son Muhammed were with him as he transitioned. He fought until the end. They described him as being at peace.

Brother Saladin leaves an outstanding legacy of commitment, leadership, consciousness, and direct organizing of our people’s and workers’ struggle for power. He was a leader of forces throughout the Black Liberation Movement and a staunch fighter for all workers, particularly, the Black Working Class. He worked tirelessly and with phenomenal energy to organize, guide, and lead our people’s fights and battles against oppression. He was an internationalist, upholding the world-wide struggle against capitalism and imperialism. His intellect, insight and analysis was outstanding in the theory and practice of organizing class and revolutionary struggle and the tactics and strategy of social transformation, national liberation, and socialism for the African American people. 

 Saladin’s unmatched organizing skills contributed to the formation and development of several grassroots and workers organizations - Black Workers for Justice, UE Local 150, and the Southern Workers Assembly, just to recognize only a few of his impactful accomplishments. These organizational formations of the Black working class were built in the context of North Carolina, a state widely recognized for its’ anti-unionism and racist history and in the US South where the lack of a strong, progressive labor movement in the southeast region has been the Achilles heel of the US national labor movement. The struggle to build a “new trade unionism” in the US South must continue.

Saladin’s leadership and guidance, upon which thousands around the country and the world relied, is irreplaceable and will be sorely missed by all of us. He was a mentor to so many younger fighters and leaders currently on the frontline of various struggles in their workplaces and communities. Saladin was active in the struggles for justice and liberation for more than 50 years.

Saladin Muhammad, PRESENTE!!!

The Executive Committee,

Black Workers for Justice

Revolutionary Song for Saladin Muhammad...

He Joins the Ancestors

What do you think about poverty and wealth?

Have you ever eaten food someone had thrown away? Why? Why not?

Have you ever lacked a good shelter in which to live? Why? Why not?

What causes poverty? Why do many people lack resources for a healthy, decent life?

What causes concentrated wealth? Why do some people have more than they need for a healthy, decent life?

Can people accumulate wealth without causing poverty for others? Why? Why not?

Can people stay wealthy without keeping others in poverty? Why? Why not?

Should some people have more wealth than others? Why? Why not? If yes, what seems like a good amount of difference in wealth? What should determine who has more, who has less, and the amount of the difference?

Should some jobs earn more per hour than others? Why? Why not? If yes, which jobs should earn more and which less? How much difference seems correct to you?

What assumptions, attitudes, customs, habits, laws, and public policies influence the mix of poverty and wealth in your society?

How closely does the current mix of wealth and poverty match what seems good to you? Why does your society do or not do what you prefer about poverty and wealth?

-Russell Herman

‘Hell, Yes, We Are Subversive’

For all her influence as an activist, intellectual, and writer, Angela Davis has not always been taken as seriously as her peers. Why not?

Portside

In 1969 a UCLA student who was also an undercover FBI agent revealed in the campus newspaper that the school’s philosophy department had recently hired a member of the Communist Party. A week later, the San Francisco Examiner reported that that person was a twenty-five-year-old professor named Angela Davis.

The University of California Board of Regents confronted Davis and asked if she was a Communist. Yes, she replied. “While I think this membership requires no justification,” she wrote the board, “I want you to know that as a black woman I feel an urgent need to find radical solutions to the problems of racial and national minorities in white capitalist United States.” The board fired her, putting her into the national spotlight over questions of academic freedom and the lingering effects of cold war anticommunism.

A judge disagreed with the board’s decision, finding that it had no right to terminate Davis because of her political affiliations. During the appeals process, she was permitted to teach (to glowing reviews). But some months later the board, led by then governor Ronald Reagan, fired Davis again. This time, they claimed her political speech was unbefitting a university professor, citing her statement, “Hell, yes, we are subversive…and we’re going to continue to be subversive until we have subverted the whole damn system of oppression.”

As Davis’s professorial fate wended its way through the courts, she grew involved in a campaign demanding justice for three prisoners known as the Soledad Brothers, who were accused of a retaliatory murder of a white prison guard. One of the brothers was the well-known writer and Black Panther George Jackson, with whom Davis would be romantically involved.

In August 1970, just a few months after Davis’s second firing, Jackson’s seventeen-year-old brother, Jonathan, held up a courthouse in Marin County. He interrupted the trial of a Black inmate, gave him a gun, and the two—alongside two other Black inmates, who had been in the courtroom to serve as witnesses—attempted to kidnap the judge, an assistant district attorney, and three members of the jury. Guards opened fire. Jonathan Jackson, the judge, and two of the inmates were killed. The district attorney was paralyzed for life.

The guns Jonathan Jackson used were registered to Davis. She had purchased them long before he stormed the courthouse, out of concern for her safety. Since the Examiner article, Davis had received daily death threats. Further, as a member of the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles, she had seen the efforts of police to destroy the group. In December 1969 three hundred police used grenades and dynamite in a siege of the party’s LA headquarters. The following May, National Guard troops killed unarmed college students at Kent State in Ohio, and police killed student protesters at Jackson State College in Mississippi. The repression of the left, especially the Black radical left, was intensifying. Read more here.

October 2022 Community Calendar of Events

6-8th, Thursday – Saturday; 6:30 PM

National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) 2022 National Conference (virtual gathering for our discussion at FOLWCC is an option or individual participants can connect from a location of their own choosing); contact Greg Moss at (704) 773-7388 for information.

8th, Saturday; 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM



Make Your Life Sweet, Not Your Drink; EmPowered to Serve Class offered in person at the Southeast Raleigh YMCA! Empowered to Serve grant funded and provides Free learning opportunities to the community. Health classes are offered in person and virtually. Pursuing health equity for all. To register go to empoweredtoserveclass.eventbrite.com.

11th, Tuesday; 6:00 PM

Candidate Forum at Biltmore Hills Park Community Center - 2615 Fitzgerald Dr, Raleigh, NC; sponsored by the Raleigh Peoples Budget Coalition; if you need childcare go to https://forms.gle/psrqA2X2yBGnY4Q76 to register.

Contact refundraleigh@gmail.com for more information.

15th, Saturday; 9:30-10:30 AM

Workin’ It Out – a Free Community Total Body Exercise Class taught by Tamara; Stretching, toning & aerobic movement – we’ve got it all for participants who are beginners, may have limitations, or are advanced. Plus, we'll have a 10-minute "Livin' More than Just Enough" Health talks about overcoming disparities and healthcare access in our communities. So, come out, bring your towel and be ready to get on the road to better fitness and to building healthier lifestyles in Black and Brown communities. Water and healthy snacks will be available. RSVP to Nathanette at (919) 876-7187 or nlmayo5@yahoo.com.

15th, Saturday; 10:00 AM-12:00 PM

National Conference of Black Lawyers "NC Chapter Brunch" at FOLWCC Cafe. Open to current members and interested African-American activists, lawyers, paralegals, and students. PLEASE RESERVE YOUR MEAL/SEAT AT THE TABLE. RSVP via email or to Greg Moss at (704) 773-7388.

15th, Saturday; 12:00-2:00 PM

Financial Health Workshop-Using the 5 Laws of Credit to buy your home or make essential family investments during present challenging times. You must email or call our office at (919) 876-7187 to reserve your seat at the FOLWCC.

23rd, Sunday; 2:00-6:00 PM

Raleigh Peoples Budget Coalition Community Cook-out & Fish Fry PARTY; Good people, information/discussion, food, music, and games. RSVP to refundraleigh@gmail.com or (919) 278-7245.

24th, Monday; 6:00-7:00 PM

Eating Smart with Fruits and Vegetables; EmPowered to Serve Class offered in-person at the Southeast Raleigh YMCA! Empowered to Serve grant funded and provides Free learning opportunities to the community. Health classes are offered in person and virtually. Pursuing health equity for all. To register go to empoweredtoserveclass.eventbrite.com.

The Real Warriors Behind

‘The Woman King’

A new film stars Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey



Meilan Solly

Associate Editor, History

smithsonianmag.com

At its height in the 1840s, the West African kingdom of Dahomey boasted an army so fierce that its enemies spoke of its “prodigious bravery.” This 6,000-strong force, known as the Agojie, raided villages under cover of darkness, took captives and slashed off resisters’ heads to return to their king as trophies of war. Through these actions, the Agoije established Dahomey’s preeminence over neighboring kingdoms and became known by European visitors as “Amazons” due to their similarities to the warrior women of Greek myth.

The Woman King, a new movie starring Viola Davis as a fictionalized leader of the Agojie, tells the story of this all-woman fighting force. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film takes place as conflict engulfs the region, and the specter of European colonization looms ominously. It represents the first time that the American film industry has dramatized the compelling story.

As the Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Keegan writes, The Woman King is “the product of a thousand battles” fought by Davis and Prince-Bythewood, both of whom have spoken out about the obstacles the production team faced when pitching a historical epic centered on strong Black women.

“The part of the movie that we love is also the part of the movie that is terrifying to Hollywood, which is, it’s different, it’s new,” Davis tells Keegan. “We don’t always want different or new, unless you have a big star attached, a big male star. … [Hollywood studios] like it when women are pretty and blond or close to pretty and blond. All of these women are dark. And they’re beating … men. So there you go.”

From the origins of the Agojie to Dahomey’s eventual fate, here’s what you need to know about the true history behind The Woman King ahead of its arrival in theaters on September 16.

Is The Woman King based on a true story?

In short, yes, but with extensive dramatic license. Though the broad strokes of the film are historically accurate, the majority of its characters are fictional, including Davis’ Nanisca and Thuso Mbedu’s Nawi, a young warrior-in-training. (Nanisca and Nawi share names with documented members of the Agojie but are not exact mirrors of these women.) King Ghezo (played by John Boyega) is the exception; according to Lynne Ellsworth Larsen, an architectural historian who studies gender dynamics in Dahomey, Ghezo (reigned 1818 to 1858) and his son Glele (reigned 1858 to 1889) presided over what’s seen as “the golden age of Dahomean history,” ushering in an era of economic prosperity and political strength. Read more here.

Endea Owens and The Cookout: Tiny Desk Concert

The Tiny Desk team teamed up with The Juilliard School for a series of Tiny Desks to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Juilliard’s jazz studies program, including performances from bassist Endea Owens and her band The Cookout, the Isaiah J. Thompson Quartet and current students in the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble.